This must drive the Neo-Cons even crazier than they are already. From the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC)'s straw poll over the weekend:

NEW ORLEANS --- In the presidential-preference straw poll here at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Mitt Romney won by ONE vote over Ron Paul --- out of 1,806 cast.

Romney received 24% of the vote (439 votes) to Paul's 24% (438 votes).

Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin received 18% --- followed by Mike Huckabee at 4%, Tim Pawlenty at 3%, Mike Pence at 3%, Rick Santorum at 2%, and Gary Johnson at 1%.

Yes, Ron Paul lost to Mitt Romney, the man who signed legislation into law mandating health insurance policies for all Massachusetts citizens, by just one vote. That, after Paul easily won the straw poll at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) in D.C. in February.

Paul's positions, however, are actually conservative, and thus run antithetical to most of the Neo-Con, Big Government, Bush/Cheney-era Republicanists who now call themselves Tea Baggers, as RAW STORY notes today here. How many more "Democrats in Disarray" articles will we have to read before the "Republicans in Disarray" articles finally begin in the corporate media?

One other related thought: When Palin came in a distant fourth at CPAC's straw poll, the Republican and Republican-enabling and TeaBag-promoting Chattering Class instructed us via the corporate media that she would have done better had she actually showed up and spoken at the event. Well, she showed up and spoke at the SRLC, received a larger percentage of the vote, but still managed to do no better than third place among the dyed-in-the-wool, hard Right Southern Republicanists at the conference. Go figure.

I have to admit I'm enjoying Paul's recent comments, but I can't help but think of him as a trojan horse. I share the same anti-imperialist values but at the end of the day he's still a deregulation fundamentalist and his approach to race and other social issues is still firmly planted in the Goldwater/JBS camp. I can't forget that he was an un-indited co-conspirator in a case involving white-supremacist mercenaries and their attempt at over-throwing a democratically elected government in the Caribbean. This was back in the eighties, and it involved DAVID DUKE. He is not to be trusted.

Disarray isn't even the word, "embarrassing" is the word. Newt Gingrich finishing in the top 4??? A guy from yesteryear like that? He was an elected Republican in the 1990's??? wtf? They STINK! Are today's young Republicans Newt Gingrich fans? That's pretty sad, if that's true. They're going nowhere.

Appearing in a photo with someone doesn't translate into being guilty of other person's crimes. There might be a picture or two of me with Chinese Triad leaders and maybe they sort of like me for whatever reason, who knows. I might have even had dinner and drinks with them, it's possible; it doesn't make me a Triad or a supporter of whatever it is that they do.

Hi,
I'm sorry. If you bear with me I will scan the articles. This was pre-interwebs and what not. Not trying to step on any toes, and it was wrong to throw this out without any documentation. No tin foil hats here, promise. Give me a day or two.

It would certainly be news to me if Ron Paul was involved in soliciting the overthrow of foreign governments. The one thing he seems to have a history of is being very consistent in his views, and doing something like that would be very inconsistent with his current positions.